No doubt this has been rumbled over before but I've not seen it. Right, passports are ok, caravan/car ok, vaccination certificates etc ok, but what's driving HRH nuts is the lack of a definitive list of what food we can/can't take into France. ie coffee mate, processed sealed packets of meat, tinned food. I've been trawling through various websites to try and find yes/no answers but to no avail. We will be arriving in France on a Sunday morning when, if memory serves me correctly, supermarkets are closed, and we are toddling off down to Spain and so would like take some stuff to tie us over till supermarkets are open. Has anyone any advice.
Cheers
Keith
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In short, products of animal origin is not allowed, including products derived from milk including butter.
It does not matter if you buy POAOs from your local supermarkets that originated from Europe, like dog food and other meat products.
UKCSers who go to Mainland Europe regularly reported no searches being conducted in their recent trips after Brexit.
Decide for yourself based on your own due diligence and risk assessment whether to risk it or not, etc. etc...
My own sentiment is that, although supermarkets may not be opened on Sundays, however, large service stations that are opened 24/7 will have food shops for basic provisions such as milk and bread.
It is unlikely to affect me as I prefer to travel midweek.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Quote: Originally posted by keithcabi on 27/2/2022
No doubt this has been rumbled over before but I've not seen it. Right, passports are ok, caravan/car ok, vaccination certificates etc ok, but what's driving HRH nuts is the lack of a definitive list of what food we can/can't take into France. ie coffee mate, processed sealed packets of meat, tinned food. I've been trawling through various websites to try and find yes/no answers but to no avail. We will be arriving in France on a Sunday morning when, if memory serves me correctly, supermarkets are closed, and we are toddling off down to Spain and so would like take some stuff to tie us over till supermarkets are open. Has anyone any advice.
Cheers
Keith
Supermarkets in France are open on Sunday mornings.
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You should be able to find somewhere to stop and do some shopping on the Monday morning so if you want to stick to the rules (no meat or dairy) it just needs a little bit of thinking and meal planning for your Sunday food.
For trips where we aren't able to stop at a supermarket on arrival day this is what we do:
The one essential for me is milk for my morning cup of tea and last year I tried Alpro Soya My Cuppa. Its not as nice as proper milk, but is no worse than UHT so that fixes that problem.
I also take a loaf of sourdough bread (it lasts longer than normal bread) and a small tub of margarine....so add a couple of eggs (which as far as I can tell are allowed) and that's breakfast/brunch sorted.
We always keep a few pouches of Tilda microwave rice in the cupboard for emergencies (no microwave - just warm in a dry saucepan) and a couple of pouches of Holy Cow curry sauce (which are plant-based). Just need some frozen Quorn or a tin of chickpeas and you have a quick an easy curry for dinner without breaking the rules.
The laws are clearly stated on this website from the French Duane (Customs).
Whether or not you abide by it is entirely up to you but there are penalties if you are caught. There are big notices up at the ports about these laws so ignorance of them is is not an excuse.
We went to France in August last year and we weren’t searched but some vans were pulled into Customs on arrival, as there usually are, but I don’t know if they were searched for food etc. There are anecdotal stories about people who were searched for prohibited food. I can’t say if they are true or not but personally I would err on the side of caution.
Products containing animal flesh, blood, bone, animal casings, animal fat or gelatine are very specifically banned so definitely should not take any meat or meat products even if they are preserved, pre packed or tinned so bacon, sausage, lard, suet etc is out. This includes anything containing meat products such Bovril, is not allowed although Marmite, being vegetarian, is ok.
All fish and fish products are allowed.
Fresh and refrigerated fruit and veg, apart from banana, coconut, dates, pineapple and durian which have no restrictions, can be taken in but may require a plant health certificate, as do any plants including cut flowers. In reality I doubt an individual apple or an orange would be confiscated but a bag full of them might. Dried, frozen and tinned fruit and veg seem to be allowed. Honey is also ok.
Cheese, milk, cream, butter and yoghurt are not allowed. Non dairy spreads and creamers are ok, so you could take olive oil oil spread and vegan Coffeemate (though personally I would chance ordinary Coffemate). You can take eggs and egg products so long as there is not an Avain Flu restriction in place.
Items containing plants that have been processed, crushed, powdered or cooked are allowed so things like non chocolate biscuits or baked beans (but not with sausage) should be ok. Things like tea, coffee, flour, pasta etc are also ok as they have been processed. Crisps etc are ok so long as they don’t contain any animal products. Bread is fine.
We went through the van and took out anything we weren’t sure about after reading the labels. I suspect that even if you are stopped and searched genuine errors would be ok but obvious breaches such as packs of meat etc wouldn’t be.
If you are getting into France before 1.00pm on the Sunday you will find that some supermarkets are open. We usually just Google for supermarkets open on Sundays at the port of arrival to find them. If not then, as said, some service stations sell ‘essentials’, though the choice is generally better in the larger ones.
It’s all quite confusing so I hope this has helped a little.
Post last edited on 27/02/2022 14:27:01
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It’s easy to go along with the feeling that these are petty, maybe even vindictive, rules designed to show us the folly of Brexit however, on a recent similar thread a poster asked the simple question, “what would your view be of someone breaking our immigration rules”?
If I was to be landing when supermarkets are closed I would be, as I would normally, ensuring that my first night stop had, or was close to, a restaurant.
Thank you for all your information Chris and Sandra.The French Customs leaflet gives a bit more information that the EU website. My own enquiries to the EU Commission, my MP and Caravan Club, in the hopes of more specific guidance, haven't answered the sort of queries many of us have.
It looks as if tinned fruit and fish will be OK, but more important to us are the low-salt/sugar baked beans and tomato/brown sauces and salad cream. Also home-made cakes(using olive spread, but how would they know it's not butter?). At least the food should be a bit cheaper in Spain and Portugal than UK.
Fish is ok as there is no physical border for fish, in that they can swim and cross borders drawn across a map which way they please, unlike animals.
I believe the same applies to seafood such as shellfish, however, I could be wrong.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Yes of course it is petty & vindictive if applied which I don’t think it is. Not at Dover anyway. We are waiting to board ferry for day trip. Checked in passports stamped. Covid passes & declarations not really looked at. No mention of food.
Take what you want. I would. When we went with caravan last summer food was not mentioned. A non story outside forums probably.
------------- Every day should be a holiday!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by billy on 28/2/2022
Yes of course it is petty & vindictive if applied which I don’t think it is. Not at Dover anyway. We are waiting to board ferry for day trip. Checked in passports stamped. Covid passes & declarations not really looked at. No mention of food.
Take what you want. I would. When we went with caravan last summer food was not mentioned. A non story outside forums probably.
It is not petty or vindictive at all, it is a rule that applies to all non-EU or single market states. Britain is not being treated any differently to anyone else. It was obviously inevitable that when Britain left the EU and single market that there would be far more rules and restrictions as with any other non-EU or single market country. We had no right or reason to expect special treatment.
EU nationals who are tourists to UK can bring in any type of food for their own use & also stay for up to 6 months which does show sensible rules can be applied if the will is there to do it.
Quote: Originally posted by billy on 28/2/2022
EU nationals who are tourists to UK can bring in any type of food for their own use & also stay for up to 6 months which does show sensible rules can be applied if the will is there to do it.
So what, British laws are different to those from other countries, who'd have thought it? The EU are just applying the same laws to the UK as they apply to every other 3rd country.
Quote: Originally posted by billy on 28/2/2022
EU nationals who are tourists to UK can bring in any type of food for their own use & also stay for up to 6 months which does show sensible rules can be applied if the will is there to do it.
Whether the UK's (lack of) rules on food imports is sensible or not is something I think only the experts can make a judgement on. The EU rules have been in place for a long time now and were designed to protect against pathogens residing in meat and dairy products (amongst other things). Many other countries around the world have similar or even stricter rules.
The UK could have decided to also put rules in place to protect against the same threats and have decided not to. The same goes for how long people are allowed to visit for without a visa. But just because those are the rules we chose to apply doesn't mean other countries are obliged to change their rules to match ours.
Quote: Originally posted by billy on 28/2/2022
EU nationals who are tourists to UK can bring in any type of food for their own use & also stay for up to 6 months which does show sensible rules can be applied if the will is there to do it.
Maybe the will is easier to follow when its just us than it is across all the EU members?
It may be that the checks are less in depth at the busier ports and its easy to see a bit of bacon or bottle of milk as 'whats the problem' but, as has been said, what would your view be of people who break our rules?
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Topic: Taking food into France
via mobile 27/2/2022 at 11:29am
